It wasn't so much an amalgamation in River East Transcona as River
East's swallowing up Transcona when the NDP forced merger on the two
unwilling partners.

It's the province's second largest division, with more than 19,000
students, but River East outnumbers Transcona by better than two-to-one in
students, and has six of the nine school board seats, with a seventh in a
ward that spans the former boundary. There are 24 candidates for nine
seats, including two Transcona incumbents and six from River East.

River East's mill rate was almost two mills higher than Transcona's,
but Transcona has lost the Springfield industrial park and the taxes from
suburban homes in Oakbank, Anola and Dugald.

River East has been grappling for years with how to squeeze Grade 9
into its three crammed high schools -- presto, there are empty seats in
Transcona schools.

Further complicating the mix is the NDP's backtracking that now allows
Springfield kids continued full access to River East Transcona schools
until June 30, 2005.

"Schools that were kindergarten to Grade 8 may become K-5
or K-6," said candidate Ken Silk. "The hot issue seems to be amalgamation,
making sure that the programs in place are preserved, that it's not just
River East's mandate, that Transcona has to follow whatever River East
wants."

Candidate Dwight Charles said parents worry that River East has dual
French and English programs, Transcona one or the other. "They're worried
about how the amalgamations of the school divisions are going to work,
that the programs they like and are used to, are going to be gone.

"If they go back to a dual track, that could mean closing some schools
and moving some students," Charles said. "I personally believe the single
track system is a superior system."

There's substantial residential growth in Eastmere and Harbourview,
but, "There's no school in the area," Charles pointed out.

Alice Neufeld-Klumper believes in having Grade 9s in high school rather
than middle school, but, she said: "People are concerned about
transportation if the grade levels change. If kids are going to be facing
a half-hour bus ride in the morning, that's not productive," she said.

Standards tests are "incredibly stressful for very young children,"
said Neufeld-Klumper, a school librarian in Seven Oaks. "Assessment
doesn't necessarily have to compute down to a written test."

Khalid Mahmood would pour far more resources into
tackling bullying; not enough is being done to protect aboriginal and
immigrant children, he said.

"Children are not being challenged enough in school. They're not
well-prepared to move from high school to university. I'm strong with
standards tests, especially with grades 10, 11 and 12," Mahmood said.

Incumbent Peter Kotyk said parents want the board to be able to remove
teachers who "can't cut it," and they want trustees to impose a moratorium
on expensive field trips, possibly limited to one trip in senior high
school. "Some parents are concerned these trips are driven by the
teachers," he said.

A $100,000 home has been paying $1,327.81 in River East and $1,238.99
in Transcona. River East figures it will cost local taxpayers at least $2
million to bring teachers' salaries up to the higher Transcona teachers'
level.